


Two Faces Have I

by Rebcake



Category: Angel: the Series, Love and Rockets (Comic)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canonical Character Death, Character of Color, Crossover, Gen, Historical, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-02
Updated: 2010-05-02
Packaged: 2017-10-09 06:24:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rebcake/pseuds/Rebcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A tale of the brave Los Hermanos Números and their myriad allies and enemies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Faces Have I

**Author's Note:**

> Translations at the end.

Número Cinco might be the baby, but he still remembered the riots that led to his brothers’ decision to take up the mask. Their neighbor, Eddie Campos, had been caught out on the first night by sailors, stripped of his beautiful suit, and badly beaten. Eddie was 13 years old, and carried the scars from that night across his face — until he died 10 years later in Korea, 3 days before armistice was declared. He was just the first. By the end of that terrible week in 1943, Número Uno and Número Dos declared that they would never again allow their people to go undefended.

“Are you with us, brothers?” they asked. In response, the brothers clapped three times in unison, and it was done.

Their cousin, Lydia, fitted their masks, and made sure that Número Quatro and Número Cinco got new ones every year as they continued growing into manhood. Número Trés put them all through a training regimen guaranteed to make them Kings of the Ring, as well as a serious threat to those who would threaten the good people under their protection.

There was no lack of villains, foreign or domestic. They defeated _Las Lobas Alemáñas_ before they could smuggle out the aviation secrets they had seduced from the scientists who fell under their spell. Almost before the bars swung shut on those deceitful beauties, Doctor X claimed he would split the earth and tumble half of California into the Pacific Ocean unless he received a half-million dollars in ransom. Los Hermanos Números found his underground laboratory and, using the Pyramid of Justice, dismantled _La Bota en las Nalgas de la Tierra_ until it was a just a twisted pile. Doctor X was left crying in a corner.

They did not always battle alone. When faced with the dreadful threat of _El Diablo Robótico_, their _compadres_ flew to their sides. El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Máscaras held the southern front—making sure that El Murcielago would not be able to provide the fiend with backup. Comrade 7 broke with her Communist masters to lend her aid. It seems that even those who do not believe in God can still fear the devil.

Queen Rena Titañon, the greatest of all _Luchadoras_, was a lioness in battle, and was the one to discover the robot’s fatal flaw. She urged Los Hermanos Números to fling her 30 feet through the air onto the head of the monster. They had never managed more than 25 feet before, but her lighter weight and buoyant qualities made the stunt only mostly crazy. She spun through the air, catching its horn with her bent leg. She executed a perfect reverse bend and plunged her arm up to the elbow into its ear canal, tearing out the central command module, thereby dealing the killing blow. As the thing toppled, it looked as if she would be crushed, but Los Hermanos Números moved quickly. Número Dos and Número Quatro flew feet first to change the direction of its fall while the rest remained in their signature formation to catch her.

That was a good day.

The night was even better. A grateful community gathered to pay their respects. The celebration lasted for hours. _El Rey del Mambo_ was in town and insisted on playing for the victors. Queen Rena was the most generous of allies, and shared credit all around, calling all of them champions. She danced once with each of them, and laughed as each one asked for her hand.

“I could never choose between five such noble and handsome heroes,” she declared with a wink. “And all such wonderful dancers, too.”

The man who captured her heart would be a lucky man, indeed.

She and Comrade 7 spent the early morning hours in a huddle with her friend, Pro Solar Mechanic Duke Morales. After that night, she was not much seen, except when she emerged to defend her title. It was whispered that _La Reina_ could occasionally be glimpsed the world over, just before the sparks of revolution took flame.

Then came the dark days following the hollow victory over Tezcatcatl. All his brothers: heroes, but dead. He buried them with honor. He tried to respect their memory by carrying on their brave works. He never understood how they could have left him behind to live in a world that increasingly had no place for men such as they had been. It was filling up with punks and heroes that seemed more like villains to him. Finally, he took the job with Wolfram &amp; Hart, and tried to ignore his emptiness. People began respect him again, if not for the reasons he would have wished. He felt no joy.

Before, the mask was a sign of pride, of honor. Now, he just didn’t want to show his face.

_FIN_

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Los Hermanos Números (The Number Brothers) – Uno (One), Dos (Two), Trés (Three), Quatro (Four), Cinco (Five)  
> 2\. [The Zoot Suit Riots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_Riots) of 1943 began with attacks on young boys. For more info (and to see Edward James Olmos’ tremendous performance as El Pachuco) watch Luis Valdez’ 1981 movie, _Zoot Suit_.  
> 3\. Las Lobas Alemánas –The German She-Wolves  
> 4\. La Bota en las Nalgas de la Tierra – The Boot in the Crack of the Earth  
> 5\. El Diablo Robótico – The Devil’s Robot  
> 6\. Compadres – compatriots  
> 7\. Doctor X, El Santo (The Saint), Blue Demon, Mil Máscaras (One Thousand Masks), and El Murcielago (The Bat) are all actual mid-20th century Mexican wrestlers.  
> 8\. Comrade 7, Queen Rena Titañon, and Duke Morales are characters by Jaime Hernandez, from Los Bros. Hernandez’ long-running comic, _Love &amp; Rockets_. Seriously: check it out.  
> 9\. Luchadoras – Lady wrestlers.  
> 10\. La Reina – The Queen, one of Ms. Titañon’s many titles.  
> 11\. El Rey del Mambo (The King of the Mambo) – Perez Prado. Band Leader Extraordinaire. ¡Hunh!


End file.
